The New Caliphate
Salman Rushdie, at a lecture presented by the Center for Inquiry/NY, on why the left's apologists for Islam are so cracked in the head:

...Salman Rushdie defended an uncompromising right of blasphemy and diagnosed the failure of Western liberals to confront Islamic radicalism. He began by describing his recent efforts to defeat the passage of a law in Britain that would have made it illegal to offend the religious sensibilities of fellow citizens, commenting, “Islamaphobia a victimless crime. It must be, in any free society, OK to be as open as you want to be about your dislike of a set of ideas. Otherwise it becomes impossible to think. It becomes impossible to have any kind of interchange of thoughts.”

Addressing Western liberals whose animus towards American foreign policy leads them to seek allies among Islamist movements, Rushdie said, “Islamic radicalism is not interested in creating a world of greater social justice. It’s not interested in liberating women. It’s not interested in tolerance for minorities and sexual dissidents. It’s not interested in democracy. It’s not interested in economic redistribution. It’s not interested in any of things that you would call social justice. It’s interested in what the Taliban is interested in. It’s interested in creating a new, religious, fascist rule over the planet; the new caliphate, the talibanization of the earth. For the left to refuse to understand the nature of the people that they are refusing to criticize, is a historical mistake as great as those who were the fellow travelors of Stalinist communist in an earlier age.”

If you think this isn't something to worry about, you're wrong. (Eventually, perhaps, dead wrong.) Check out the Muslim-ladies-only swimming hours creeping across the globe. And not just in Europe. Here's an excerpt from blog item by Daniel Pipes:

July 24, 2006 update: The Cook/Douglass Recreation Center pool at Rutgers University, a taxpayer-funded institution, has instituted Muslim women-only hours for two hours on Sundays. Swimmers pay $5 for each session, half of which goes to support the Noor-Ul-Iman School.

Dec. 9, 2006 update: The Thornton Heath Leisure Centre, a municipal facility in Croydon, a distant part of London, not only has women-only hours but also men-only. What makes it truly cutting edge is this: during the segregated hours, all swimmers must wear Muslim-style swimming gear. Yes, by decree of the Croydon Council, for two hours on Sunday afternoon swimming shorts that hide the navel and extend below the knee are de rigeur. And when it's women's hours, they must cover from neck to ankle.

Some members responded furiously. "I turned up and saw a sign saying it was closing early for Muslim afternoon - I couldn't believe it," commented Daniel Foley, 44. "I think it is preposterous that a council should be encouraging this type of segregation over municipal facilities," said Alex Craig, 34. "It seems the issue here is over modesty. Surely if Muslims want to swim then they should just turn up with their modest swimwear at the same time as everyone else. To make a special provision for them is just ridiculous and strikes me as imposing an ‘Us and them' mentality which is wrong." In contrast, the Croydon Mosque thought Muslim-garb swimming sessions a grand idea. Its spokesman said: "Muslims are not allowed to show intimate parts of their body. This is non-negotiable. Muslims have as much right to go swimming as anyone else." And a spokesman for Croydon Council said: "We are not giving preference to any one group but simply taking practical steps to create access to all."

Yeah? You want to swim in a pup tent and keep the rest of the population out of a public pool when you do...building your own fucking pool.

Comments

Yeah that swimming-pool deal is really daft. Think the Saudis would **ever** set aside times for atheist women to swim in bikinis, in a public pool?

Stu "El Inglés" Harris
at December 27, 2006 2:10 PM

I guess if they wanted a little target practice they would! Gotta keep that rock-throwing arm in good shape!

Chris
at December 27, 2006 3:15 PM

Oh, those quaint Muslims. If they aren't gang raping Swedish women, they are telling us what to wear at the pool. Ya' gotta love 'em.

doombuggy
at December 27, 2006 6:13 PM

I'm wondering about how legal scholars might spin this one... perhaps by making an analogy between Muslims and people who are "differently abled" (Berkeley-ese for "disabled").

I think Muslim swimming hours would be okay, if they didn't interfere with anyone else's access to the facilities. I propose we give them from 2:00 - 3:30 AM.

Lena
at December 27, 2006 10:17 PM

In 1989 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called down a Fatwa (death sentence) on Mr. Rushdie, and according to Frances Harrison reporting for the BBC from Tehran: "religious authorities in Iran say the only person who can lift the sentence was the man who imposed it, Ayatollah Khomeini, who died in 1989."

Mohammad Khatami played down the death threat while he was president of Iran, but that's not the same thing as Supreme Ruler, and the successor to the Supreme Ruler has stated as recently as last year that the "apostate" Rushdie should die.

So, if Muslim hour should end with a body floating face down in the pool, don't wonder. He is worth US$2.8 Million, according to the terms of his contract, which cannot be cancelled.